I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Book of Night by Holly Black Published by Tor Books on May 3 2022
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 320
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Lovely writing and eerie ambiance couldn’t quite make up for a confusing plot and magic system.
Book of Night was not at all what I expected (something I’ve heard from other reviewers as well) and that may have impacted my reading experience. When I think of Holly Black, my mind conjures up fairies and magic and intricate worldbuilding, and despite the mysterious, ethereal cover design, the book reads more like an urban fantasy heist story than anything else. With a slow and sometimes confusing plot, an overabundance of characters to keep track of, and a magic system that’s more head-scratching than magical, Book of Night didn’t blow me away like I was hoping it would. Still, I loved Holly Black’s writing as well as the dark and dangerous ambiance of her story, so ultimately this was a mixed bag for me.
In the world of magical shadows, Charlie Hall used to be a thief. Raised from a young age to be a pickpocket and a safe-breaker, Charlie finds herself embroiled in the dangerous world of shadow magic, even though she has no magic of her own. Hired by gloamists—those whose shadows have “awakened”—to steal old and valuable books and texts with detailed shadow magic techniques, Charlie was good at her job and sought after for her skills. But now she’s retired from the business, after one too many brushes with serious injury. She works as a bartender, lives in a small but cozy apartment with her sister Posey, and has a considerate and sweet boyfriend named Vince, who even contributes to her rent..
But when Charlie inadvertently witnesses a murder, she finds herself thrust back into the “game,” forced to locate a mysterious book called the Liber Noctem, a book that a gloamist named Lionel Salt is dying to get his hands on. Why does Salt want the book? And what is Vince’s connection to Salt? If Charlies wants answers, she’s going to have to get her hands dirty and try to stay alive long enough to solve the mystery.
The story focuses on the present and Charlie’s attempts to locate the Liber Noctem, interspersed with flashbacks to her tragic and unconventional childhood. We also get a glimpse into Vince’s backstory, which is very important later on. I found these “past” chapters almost more interesting than the chapters that take place in the present, for some reason.
As for characters, I really liked Charlie, despite the author’s determination to portray her as a horrible human being: “Crooked from the day she was born. Never met a bad decision she wasn’t willing to double down on. Had fingers made for picking pockets, a tongue for lying, and a shriveled cherry pit for a heart.” For me, Charlie was simply misunderstood and is often thrust into bad situations simply by virtue of the world she lives in. She has a hard-scrabble life, barley able to make ends meet, and she works her ass off in order to keep a roof over her sister’s head and even saves money so Posey can go to college. She has an air of innocence to her as well, even though she’s been around the block a time or two and has seen all kinds of awful things in her years working as a thief for dangerous gloamists. Charlie gets caught up in yet another scheme, even though she’s trying to stay out of that business, but she’s doing it for the money and not because he “wants to get into trouble.” The bottom line was, I just couldn’t picture Charlie as a “bad girl.” Her heart, at least in my opinion, is nothing like a shriveled cherry pit, lol.
I also enjoyed Vince’s character, and in fact I thought Vince was the most interesting character in the story. I can’t really tell you why, because I don’t want to spoil things for you, but I loved the mysteries surrounding him.. Vince is unique because he doesn’t have a shadow, which in this world means someone has stolen it. The truth is, Charlie doesn’t know a whole lot about Vince, but she’s OK with that, at least until some truths about his past emerge, and then, of course, she becomes curious. In one of the flashbacks, we learn how Charlie and Vince met and how they were instantly attracted to each other. It was a sweet moment that made me root for them as a couple, even though you know bad stuff is coming.
I also really liked the idea of shadow magic. In this world, some people have magic shadows but others don’t. The theory is that you can force your shadow to “quicken” by experiencing pain. The most common way to do this is to split your tongue, and I’ll just leave it at that because the tongue splitting descriptions were pretty awful. Gloamists can manipulate their shadows and use them as weapons, but on the less violent side of things, you can also have your shadow altered to have wings or a tail, sort of like getting a tattoo in order to express yourself. And because some people aren’t able to awaken their shadows but are desperate to have magic of their own, stealing and selling shadows has become prevalent. But ultimately, Black’s shadow magic fell flat for me. There’s a lot of telling and very little showing in Book of Night, and I never figured out why having a magical shadow was so important, other than as a status symbol.
The real negative of the book for me, though, is the lack of forward momentum. Book of Night took me forever to finish, and it’s barely three hundred pages long. The plot is confusing and the characters seem to be running around in circles a lot of the time. Also, there are quite a few side characters, and I sometimes found myself saying things like “Wait, who is Viceriene??” Luckily the last few chapters really picked up, and the ending was both shocking and thrilling, but I wish that tension and action had started earlier in the story.
And speaking of the ending, Black adds a few really big twists that I did not see coming, and although this book isn’t listed as a series, it’s pretty clear that there will be at least one more book coming. Despite the negatives, the cliffhanger ending makes me anxious to see what happens next.
With thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
I’ve seen a lot of readers say the same kinda things so I’m not entirely surprised. I haven’t bought the book yet but I will (at some point) and I hope I’ll enjoy it more than most people. I do have some hopes though because urban fantasy is my favorite kinda fantasy so maybe this will be a good one for me? Hopefully? 😀
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Book Blitz: The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken + Giveaway
I hope you enjoy it, Stephanie!
Helpful review, Tammy. I do think some readers will love this book, but I don’t think I’m the right audience for it.
Priscilla Bettis recently posted…Using Real Life Horrors in Fiction or, “Why would anyone write about THAT?”
Thanks Priscilla. I guess they can’t all be winners:-)
I just read Mogsy’s review and she expressed your same misgivings about the pace, which is a real pity because that was not the case with Black’s Folk of the Air series. I guess I will have to lower my expectations for this one, so as not to be too disappointed… Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…THE STRANGER TIMES (Stranger Times #1), by C.K. McDonnell – #wyrdandwonder
I’m so curious to see what you think:-)
I am sorry to see that this one didn’t work for you. I have a mixed relationship with this author, but usually my biggest problems are with her fae books so I was mildy optimistic for this one but… Now I am not really sure. What you wrote about the plot and the number of secondary characters didn’t make me happy. But I am glad that in the end things picked up a bit!
I’ll be curious to see what you think if you read it:-)
Well good, I don’t feel so bad now. I’ve started this on multiple occasions and was having a really hard time following what was going on. I think I still plan on trying again… someday.
Bonnie @ For the Love of Words recently posted…Something To Look Forward To | Week of May 16th, 2022
I’m so relieved it’s not just me! I thought I’d breeze through it but wow it took forever to finish. Good luck!
Oh no, only 3 stars??? I haven’t started yet so I’m not going to read the content of your review just yet… but I know our reactions to books are often aligned, so this is disappointing. 🙁
You may enjoy it more than I did, but I was surprised! I really expected to love it.
I felt the same way about Charlie and Vince. This book reminded me of her Curse Workers series…
I haven’t read that series, but it’s on my list:-)
Great review, Tammy. I enjoyed this one more than you did, although I have to admit I’m struggling to write a review for it. The plot and magic system are not as easy to describe as I would have expected them to be, lol.. Vince was my favorite character too and like you, I tended to enjoy the flashbacks more than I did the present day storyline. I am eager to see where the story goes next though so I hope this will at least be a duology.
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra recently posted…Review: THE SUMMER PLACE by Jennifer Weiner
The plot is hard to describe for sure! I’m looking forward to your review:-)
Parts of this bring to mind a series of great short stories I read when I subscribed to the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction about a thief who stole peoples shadows. Lots of fun. Sorry to hear this one wasn’t quite as much fun, though.
The ideas were great, but overall it was a tough one for me.
I have been so hesitant about this one! It sounds promising, but I feel like a lot of these super hyped novels can be very hit or miss for me. I really appreciate your view in helping me decide to check it out sometime, but maybe not rush to it, haha. I can see having similar reactions to it that you describe. Great review!
If you do read it, I will be very curious to hear what you think:-)
Totally agree with you on the lack of forward momentum. I liked the book but it was also really hard to read sometimes because I just wasn’t motivated enough, there wasn’t enough drive.
Yes, it’s hard to keep reading when the story doesn’t go anywhere!
Oh dear. That’s a shame, and similar feelings to Mogsy whose review I’ve also just read.
Lynn 😀
Ha damn! And I just got the book!!!
I just finished the book and had to come back and read your review! I haven’t written up my thoughts yet (and it’ll probably be a while before I do), but I think we’re very much in sync. For a not very long book, it took me a long time to read, and I found so much about the magical systems really confusing. (Like, what even is the Heirophant (sp?) supposed to be?) I did think the twists near the end were really compelling… but I feel kind of iffy at this point about whether I’d want to read more if the series continues.